


all the stars that cannot shine

by stardustgirl



Series: spiral . [3]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Between Seasons 2 and 3, Ezra Bridger Has PTSD, Force-Sensitive Jyn Erso, Imperial Jyn Erso, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inquisitor!Jyn Erso, Jyn Erso Has PTSD, Jyn Erso-centric, Lots of Angst, Past Child Abuse, Post-Episode: s02e21-22 Twilight of the Apprentice, Pre-Episode: s03e01-02 Steps Into Shadow, Pre-defection!Alexsandr Kallus, Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow, Teen Angst, Teenage Ezra Bridger, Teenagers, The Force, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-16 22:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20610008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustgirl/pseuds/stardustgirl
Summary: “First he’ll come for me, then he’ll kill all of you, and then we’ll go tell your kriffing Emperor to go kriff off, too.”He’s lying through his teeth.Kanan won’t come.  He knows that. Kanan hasn’t doneanythingfor the last two kriffingmonthsbeyond sleep or go off into the kriffing wilderness to meditate with a bunch of kriffingcrabs.But still.  It’s not like Kallus knows that.Or; two angsty teenagers meet and square up.





	all the stars that cannot shine

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Abuse, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Torture of a Child, Restraint, Electrocution of a Child

Ezra Bridger is in deep bantha poodoo.

He just _ had _ to listen to that kriffing holocron and get himself captured, and with no way of letting the crew or the larger rebellion know. Not that they would come for him, anyway. He hadn’t even told most of them he was leaving, or where he was going. He just told Chopper he was going to check on a lead on something, borrowed a fighter, and _ left. _

Now, the fighter’s gone, Hera’s going to kriffing _ kill him _ when he gets back (_if he even _ gets _ back_), they took his _ lightsaber _ (and he’s just barely made the new one too), and ISB has their hands on him.

Today’s going kriffing _ great. _

As the door opens again he shoots a glare at it, bloody lip curling into a snarl. Agent Kallus pays him no mind, instead merely walking to the controls and stopping.

“I’ll give you one more chance to answer peacefully. Just one.”

“Go kriff yourself.”

Kallus sighs, looks heavenward, and then turns and activates the electricity.

Ezra can’t help it. He screams. He thrashes against the table, back arching even as the cuffs pull his arms and legs back toward the pain. His entire body is on _ fire, _ and he’s going to die he’s really going to die here on a Star Destroyer in the middle of hyperspace he’s going to _ die— _

The electricity shuts off just as suddenly as it was turned on.

Choking back a whimper, Ezra shoots another glance at Kallus as the teen’s chest heaves for breath that won’t come.

“What...was that for?”

“All I need, Bridger, is information about the rebels. _ Anything. _ And I’ll leave you alone. I _ promise._”

Ezra’s gaze hardens only seconds before softening as he allows his head to dip to his chest. “Can– can I get bacta after, too?”

Kallus’s lips tighten slightly, but they’re both well aware that Ezra knew his answer beforehand. “Unless it’s life-threatening, no.”

“I’ll be threatening _ your _ life if you don’t,” he mutters under his breath.

“What was that, Bridger?”

“Just information about the rebels.”

Kallus sighs abruptly and takes a step closer, leaning in close enough Ezra can see the lighter flecks of color in his eyes. “Listen to me, boy: I can’t do a _ thing _ about your situation unless you give me what I _ need,_” he hisses. Ezra pulls back, glaring once more.

“What ‘situation?’ The one _ you _ put me in?”

“Bridger—“

“Here’s some information about the rebels, and you’d better take some notes before you lose it all like you kriffers always seem to do: Zeb’s a Lasat who told me to tell you to go kriff yourself, Sabine’s a Mandalorian and she told me the same thing only in more detail, and Hera’s got better piloting skills than your whole kriffing _ fleet,_” he snarls, voice rising as he speaks.

The electricity that hits him only moments later makes him yell a string of curses before it finally lets off. Ezra shakes his head to clear it, wincing.

“And the Jedi?” Kallus asks calmly, as if he didn’t just fry the boy to within an inch of his life.

Despite the questioner, Ezra can’t help but avert his gaze briefly. Steeling himself, he closes his eyes before reopening them and turning his gaze on Kallus again.

“He’s going to tear your entire Empire down _ piece by piece._ First he’ll come for me, then he’ll kill all of you, and then we’ll go tell your kriffing Emperor to go kriff off, too.”

He’s lying through his teeth.

Kanan won’t come. He knows that. Kanan hasn’t done _ anything _ for the last two kriffing _ months _ beyond sleep, go to the makeshift medcenter they set up only a week prior to his incident, or go off into the kriffing wilderness to meditate with a bunch of kriffing _ crabs. _

But still. It’s not like Kallus knows that.

* * *

A hand hits her in the face. Hard.

“Try again.”

“No.”

Another hand drags her up by the hair, shoving her back against the wall. She glares darkly at the man in front of her.

“Try again,” the Pau’an repeats. She holds her ground, continuing to glare at him before she shakes her head. Forty-four’s thrown to the ground, and when she tries to get back to her feet, she receives a kick in the gut for her efforts.

“Must we continue this?”

She sniffs, wiping the blood now trailing from her nose off with the back of her hand. “You could always just stop.”

This time, he grabs her with the Force, throwing her against the durasteel and forcing her to arch her back as he approaches calmly. “And _ you _ could always make the smart decision and stop fighting, Forty-four.”

He’s close enough now that she has no question of her aim. “Kriff _ off, _” she hisses before spitting. It lands on his jaw and he doesn’t spare it so much as a glance, merely flicking it off with one hand while he makes the other into a claw.

The air around her throat tightens and she can’t help but whimper as her windpipe closes up.

“Remember your place, girl. Now, would you like to try our previous exchange again?”

Her gaze darkens, even as she scrabbles for invisible hands encircling her throat. “No,” she rasps.

The Grand Inquisitor shrugs. “Your choice.”

Her throat constricts tighter, and she gasps, dark spots dotting her vision as she begins to feel light-headed. Distantly, she wonders if he’ll actually give her the mercy of passing out this time.

However, just as she expected, he does not.

A loud rap on the door makes him turn. “What?” he snaps, still holding Forty-four in place with the Force.

“The prisoner from the Lothal Sector arrived, my lord,” one of the Purge Troopers calls through the metal.

The Pau’an sighs, rolling his eyes before finally releasing her. She crumples to her knees, gasping for breath and planting her hands firmly on the floor in front of her. As she begins to regain her vision, she hears the Inquisitor leaving. Her head whips up and she stumbles to her feet, rushing forward.

“No, wait—!”

The door shuts before she reaches it.

* * *

Ezra’s kriffing _ brilliant _ situation somehow continues to get even _ more _ kriffing brilliant.

One of the weird ‘troopers he’s never seen until the shuttle landed here shoves his head down, adjusting their grip on his tightly cuffed wrists. “Keep going.”

“I’m _ going!_” he snaps.

The ‘trooper cuffs the back of his head, the plastoid armor hard enough to make him flinch. “Quiet.”

They continue to march him down the hall until they reach a cell. It’s unmarked, like all the others, aside from a small green light to its left. The ‘trooper palms the door open before pressing a button below the light. It changes to red, and they push Ezra in.

He stumbles down the steps, landing on his shoulder without the use of his hands to soften his fall. Grunting, he hurriedly gets to his feet again, starting to stumble back up. He makes it to the second stair before he tries to use the Force.

Instantly, a shock strikes him from the cuffs, and he yelps, stumbling backward and nearly falling off the small staircase. A rough kick from one of the ‘troopers’ boots sends him the rest of the way. His head smacks against the durasteel, and he’s out cold.


End file.
